New York Markets After Hours

Pending home sales rise 1.5% in March

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Pending sales of homes rose 1.5% in March, reversing February's decline, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday. The pending-home-sales index increased to 105.7 in March from 104.1 in February, and was up 7% from March 2012. "Contract activity has been in a narrow range in recent months, not from a pause in demand but because of limited supply," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. "Little movement is expected in near-term sales closings, but they should edge up modestly as the year progresses." By region, March saw pending home sales rise 2.7% in the South, 1.5% in the West, and 0.3% in the Midwest. There was no change in the Northeast. On Monday, NAR revised U.S. pending home sales for February to a decline of 1% from a prior estimate of a 0.4% slip. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed. Typically, sales are finalized within two months of signing.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. Intraday data
delayed per exchange requirements. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM) from Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real time last sale data provided by NASDAQ. More
information on NASDAQ traded symbols and their current financial status. Intraday
data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM)
from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. SEHK intraday data is provided by SIX Financial Information and is
at least 60-minutes delayed. All quotes are in local exchange time.